Post Capitalism Criticism: Tit for Tat and All That
May 27, 2014
I love it when a French intellectual and a British real journalist squabble. The dust up may not compare to a cage match in mixed martial arts, but the interaction is enjoyable. On one side, the now famous Thomas Piketty uses lots of data to suggest that 21st century capitalism concentrates wealth and makes life interesting for those unlucky enough to be in the new serfdom. On the other side is the tinted newspaper devoured by the money lovers unwilling to trust Murdoch owned business news.
I enjoyed “Thomas Piketty Accuses Financial Times of Dishonest Criticism.” Note that the Guardian in an open sourcey, Google watching, British newspaper competing with the Financial Times. The article reports:
The controversy blew up when the FT accused Piketty of errors in transcribing numbers, as well as cherry-picking data or not using original sources. The newspaper concluded there was little evidence in Piketty’s original sources to verify his theory that the richest were accumulating more wealth, widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots in Europe and the United States.
Now real journalists and MBAs do not—I repeat, do not—cherry pick numbers. The idea that the axiom of choice applies to real journalists and French intellectuals is incorrect. I have no doubt that objectivity in data analysis, critical decisions, and cross channel squabbling are exempt from selectivity.
I would point out that France has a number of data analysis outfits that embrace French break throughs in algorithmic methods. But the axiom of choice does not affect a “publishing sensation.” Similarly, the British can point to the professional interaction between Newton and Leibnitz or the fine treatment of Ramanujan as evidence of judicious, clear thinking.
I do not see any indication that either side has made any errors in reasoning. In fact, Stephen Toulmin would be thrilled of the Financial Times’s approach. In France, Alain Badiou is probably pleased as punch with Mr. Piketty’s approach.
Those who find the arguments lacking in impact also are exempt from the axiom of choice. Post capitalistic debates break new epistemological ground.
As the great American songster said in the Doggfather:
I hear ya Dogg
It’s a cold, cold thing!
It’s a cold thing!
For real, hmm!
Well said. Now run a query for inequality, axiom of choice, and Snoop Dogg. How is that objectivity working for you now when most queries funnel into one system?
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2014
Elsevier as a Symbol of the Greater Whole
May 27, 2014
Elsevier has recently been reviled in the academic library world for its high profit margins, political wrangling, and skyrocketing invoices. But Elsevier is really just a part of a greater issue, the crisis in academic publishing. Gowers’s Weblog dives in to the nitty gritty of the issue with his post, “Elsevier Journals – Some Facts.”
He lays out the whole controversy around Elsevier and takes a mathematical approach to whether or not the burgeoning open access movement will ever supersede the current model.
The author brings about this conclusion:
“I have come to the conclusion that if it is not possible to bring about a rapid change to the current system, then the next best thing to do, which has the advantage of being a lot easier, is to obtain as much information as possible about it. Part of the problem with trying to explain what is wrong with the system is that there are many highly relevant factual questions to which we do not yet have reliable answers.”
So what is to be done? Well, from the perspective of a librarian, the profession has to roll with the punches. Embrace open access when possible (and of high quality) but hang on to the scholarly journals that professors and students demand. There is no easy solution. We can only hope that the system moves in the direction of greater and fairer access.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 27, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Envisioning Libraries of the Future
May 27, 2014
The debate over the future of libraries continues to rage. Will they even continue to exist? If they do, they will surely not continue on unchanged. This librarian wants to weigh in, and The Slate story, “What Will Become of the Library?” serves as a lovely backdrop for discussion.
First of all, yes, libraries will have to change. But libraries are poised to meet an increasingly large gap left by the digital divide (those who have internet access and those who don’t):
“Eventually, the Venn diagram of those who lack smartphones and those who lack homes may nearly overlap exactly. Libraries are well positioned to serve many of the needs of this demographic, the dispossessed of the digital age.”
Now, this is assuming that all things remain constant, and we know they definitely will not. There is no way to truly know how this will unravel. The decline of books is inevitable, but will proceed much more slowly than most folks predict. Most importantly, libraries will continue to exist if the community needs them to.
The article concludes:
“Libraries will only survive if the communities they serve want and need them to. It would be a tragedy of historic proportions if, for instance, the public library system that Carnegie endowed and inspired is dismantled in the coming decades, but it’s a real possibility. In the end, it’s up to us—scholars, makers, and artists, seekers of community, access, and safe haven, and above all, readers in the old, human sense of the word—to rise to the level of these monuments we’ve built.”
Well said. This librarian is optimistic.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 27, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Webinar Bridges the Gap Between SharePoint Usage and Performance
May 27, 2014
Many SharePoint specialists see a disconnect between SharePoint usage and user performance. In an attempt to explain and fill that gap, GSX Solutions is sponsoring a webinar which highlights their partnership with CardioLog Analytics. Read all the details in the article, “Webinar: Bridging the SharePoint Gap — Usage Meets User Performance.”
The announcement begins:
“GSX Solutions . . . today announced a new webinar to discuss topics around filling the gap between usage and user performance when using SharePoint together with its technology partner, Intlock, the leader in the field of SharePoint analytics since 2005. CardioLog Analytics, the leading SharePoint Web analytics solution developed by Intlock, provides deep insights into the performance of Web and portal initiatives through testing, tracking and targeting, ultimately enabling users to optimize their sites’ impact and maximize the return on investment.”
Stephen E. Arnold also has a vested interest in SharePoint. He has made a career out of following all things search and reporting his finding on ArnoldIT.com. His SharePoint feed features lots of useful tips and tricks, including webinar and professional development like the opportunity above.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 27, 2014
File Sharing Torrent Site Goes Down
May 26, 2014
I read “Largest Torrent Search Engine Torrentz.eu Taken Down by UK Anti-Piracy Police.” Torrent sites are often associated with motion picture downloads, but there are other types of files on these systems. According to the write up, Torrentz.eu pointed to files and did not host the copy protected content. I noted this passage:
Torrentz.eu acts as a search engine for torrents rather than storing the files itself, making the move unusual among police shutdowns. The site receives millions of visitors a day and is thought to be one of the largest torrent sites on the internet.
In my forthcoming Prague police and intelligence lectures I review sites and access methods that are providing some users to content making it possible to obtain copyrighted content. The step is encouraging to some copyright holders. The existence of alternative paths is likely to create opportunities for additional enforcement measures going forward.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2014
Pinterest Attempts Improved Search
May 26, 2014
Pinterest is known as a time drain, a very entertaining time drain, but a time drain none the less. It is pages and pages of endless scrolling, browsing, and clicking. But now Pinterest attempts to join the world of search, to make their product easier to use and perhaps more efficient. Read the details in the MakeUseOf story, “Explore Pinterest In Just A Few Taps As Guided Search Comes To The Mobile Apps.”
The article says:
“Guided Search is being described as a new way to find content on Pinterest. With so many pins, boards, and Pinners to search through, Guided Search wants to make it easier to find something within the first few taps. As the name indicates, Guided Search helps you get more specific by diving deeper into each category.”
No advanced search phrases are needed – just a simple keyword that can then be narrowed down via the sliding row of filters along the top of the screen. And while this is a nice thought, Pinterest users likely have no expectation for efficient search. If they did, they would be using Google to find the page in the first place instead of scrolling through countless pins from friends of friends in search of mashed potato recipes.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 26, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Failure of Academic Publishing
May 26, 2014
The current academic publishing model has been failing for some time, but it seems things are worse than previously thought. The model is broken: professors have to publish to be tenured, but they have to pay to be published. But the main market for academic publishing is academia, the very employers of these same professors. So the world of education is paying for academic publishing both coming and going. Furthermore, the pressure to publish and achieve tenure can be so overwhelming that everyone starts looking for some relief, or even a shortcut. The National Post has exposed a deeper problem in their article, “It’s the ‘Worst’ Science Paper Ever — Filled with Plagiarism and Garble — and Journals are Clamouring to Publish It.”
The article begins:
“I have just written the world’s worst science research paper: More than incompetent, it’s a mess of plagiarism and meaningless garble. Now science publishers around the world are clamouring to publish it. They will distribute it globally and pretend it is real research, for a fee. Welcome to the world of science scams, a fast-growing business that sucks money out of research, undermines genuine scientific knowledge, and provides fake credentials for the desperate.”
For a long time, academic publishing was protected through the stopgap of the peer review process. But information flows faster now, due to the Internet, and publishers have gotten greedy. In the opinion of this librarian, the importance of evaluating information is now greater than ever. It is no longer enough to trust a certain database, or even a certain journal title, each reader much be a careful critic of the information before them.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 26, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Amazon Books: The Parable of the Trans Amazon Highway
May 24, 2014
Most people don’t know that I lived in Brazil in the period before the sheep’s foot rollers crunched through the Brazilian rain forest. The environmental adjustment was due to the need to prepare for the massive Trans Amazon Highway. When the project began to take shape, preparations had to be made. Once Rodovia Transamazonia became “official”, decades of political and economic preparation had been underway. By the mid 1950s, the need for BR 153 was evident to anyone who tried to go west from any major Brazilian city. It was an airplane or weeks, maybe months, of multi-modal transportation. Need to get across a stream. Chop down trees and put up a “bridge.”
Pretty darned effective I learned first hand. Source: http://bit.ly/1r3uFMY
I recall riding in a Caterpillar bulldozer equipped with two sets of sheep foot rollers. Push though the jungle and then drag the rollers over the trees, slow moving animals, and the occasional native’s house, and you are ready to get down to road building. My father, never the environmentally sensitive type, explained that heavy equipment and bulldozing were beautiful: fast, cheap, effective, and potent. And even I, as a child, understood that the natives had to find their future elsewhere. Once the heavy equipment rolled through, the old ways were toast.
I fondly recalled these early lessons from my father, the giant US company for whom he labored as Managing Director, and stunned look on the faces of the people who lived in the forest and scrubland as we rolled through. In my mind’s eye, I imagine the Hachette professionals have that same look: A mixture of surprise, anger, and confusion. The heavy equipment drivers just shifted gears and crushed forward.
I read “As Publishers Fight Amazon, Books Vanish.” Interesting because the company appears to be bulldozing its way through traditional book publishing. My thought is that when the bulldozers finish, the old way is either gone or too expensive to continue. Savvy natives packed up and moved to favelas and reinvented themselves. Some were entrepreneurs and others tried to recapture a life in a transformed environment.
Digital bulldozers transform business process landscapes with speed and brutal efficiency. My father would have been proud of this approach to business. His one regret would be that Amazon’s corporate colors were not the flashy yellow and black that he so loved.
There were a couple of points in the “real” journalism article I noted. Let me highlight each and make a short comment.
First, “The literary community is fearful and outraged, and practically begging for government intervention.” My thought, “Once the forest has been bulldozed, it is tough to regrow.”
Second, “But the real prize is control of e-books, the future of publishing.” My thought, isn’t the future clear. Hasn’t Amazon won? If it had not won, why then the surprise that the bulldozer crushed traditional business processes the way the bulldozer took out the natives’ houses?
Third, the statement “If this is the new American way [attributed to writer and former advertising professional James Patterson], then maybe it has to be changed—by law, if necessary—immediately, if not sooner.” Catchy statement, but I thought, isn’t it too late? Regrowing that jungle and moving the natives back is a somewhat tough task.
Fourth, Amazon allegedly has been making it tough to buy a biography critical of former Wall Street quant Jeff Bezos. My father did not give interviews either. Guess what? The highway was built through the gut of the Amazon.
And the parable?
Once the landscape is changed, going back gets tough. Modern life is not congruent to Rousseau’s fantasy.
Parts of the Transamazonian experience looks like Paramus, New Jersey. Image source: http://bit.ly/1kdwdPz
Amazon, like Google, has been operating for many years, pursuing the same goals, using the mechanisms of online, and building support from people who spend money.
Maybe governments are more powerful than Amazon, Google, and Facebook? The reality, however, is that the bulldozers have already rolled through. The dispossessed, annoyed, and confused can talk. It is going to be very difficult to restore the jungle and the previous way of life.
By the way, search doesn’t work too well on Amazon to begin with. Not being able to find a book is par for Amazon’s course. Bad search helps sales and Amazon’s imperative. I have learned to live with it. Perhaps the publishers, authors, and real journalists should follow my example. Adapt and move on. Yelling at a bulldozer driver and throwing rocks doesn’t change reality.
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2014
Hewlett Packard: Search Seems Quiet
May 23, 2014
I read a number of news stories by real journalists who reported on HP’s second quarter 2014 financial performance. In Recode story, the one item that caught my attention was the announcement that HP would fire another 16,000 people. I enjoy the euphemisms some management gurus use; for example, these 16,000 people will be able to “find their future elsewhere.” For the old school manager, RIF (reduction in force) is snappier.
The software revenues at HP were uninspiring to me. For a company that once saw enterprise software as the high margin puppy, the reality seems to be less sunny. With cloud computing headed down the commoditization trail and enterprise services trouble, I will be watching how HP stacks up against the always interesting IBM. Maybe next quarter Autonomy and Watson can do a round of mud wrestling?
Could Mike Lynch’s team done a better job? Interesting question for 16,000 job hunters to ponder.
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2014
For Your Inner SharePoint
May 23, 2014
Short honk: Qink.net offers a useful list of freely available SharePoint libraries. You can find the listing at http://bit.ly/1lGc7tM. There is no major subcategory for “information retrieval.” There is a pointer to Apache’s Lucene.net page. After scanning the list, my thought was that search is not a mainstream focus for these freely available components.
Stephen E Arnold, May 23, 2014
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